Neighbourhood Support

Dealing with malicious or unwanted telephone calls

If you are receiving malicious phone calls you are not alone. Telecom receives about 3500 complaints a month and operates a specialist call centre to assist customers who receive unwanted telephone calls

The following information has been designed to provide advice on the prevention of unwanted calls and the procedure to follow if you do receive them.

If you have received a life-threatening call and you feel that your or another person's safety is at risk, contact the police immediately

If you have received a threatening, abusive, obscene, or hoax call, you should contact your local Police for advice. These calls may potentially be considered a criminal offence.

Nuisance Calls

If you are experiencing nuisance type calls, Telecom can investigate.

At Telecom representative may advise you to log nuisance calls over a period of time, usually 7 days, to determine the frequency and extent of the problem. If the representative considers that the calls do constitute a breach of the Telecommunications Act or a breach of a Telecom customer contract, they will then investigate. If this applies to you, use the log provided to establish the extent of the problem.

If you are receiving unwanted calls that you consider to be a nuisance, contact the Telecom Call Investigation Centre during business hours 9am - 4pm Monday to Friday, for assistance . Call toll free 0800 809806 ready to provide the date, time and nature of the call. An Investigator will discuss the complaint with you and will provide advice on how Telecom can assist.

It is important to note that if a representative does investigate your complaint he/she will not be able to provide you with the number of the offending call. Telecom will deal with the situation on your behalf, keeping the identity of both parties confidential.

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Types of Calls

Serious Speech Calls

These types of calls may include; a threat to kill, seriously injure a person or damage property, or involve sexually explicit language or behaviour, or contain language that is unacceptable in day-to-day usage such as swearing. They may also be hoax calls such as false orders for food or taxis or the impersonation of a person or an organisation.

Nuisance Calls

These types of calls may include; hang up calls, children playing, multiple calls between midnight and 5am as well as:

> Non-speech calls: these are of a nuisance nature where the caller holds the line and does not speak or breathes heavily, also the caller may terminate the call when answered; and
> Computer generated calls: mostly common, fax or modem calls received on a residential line. Unfortunately these are a common occurrence. Most are as a result of misdialling when trying to send a fax or access a modem and the sender will most often realise the mistake quickly. As with 'non speech' calls, Telecom are only able to look into fax or modem calls if they are an on-going problem.

Precautions

There are four basic precautions you should take to discourage malicious telephone calls:

1.	Do not give your full name when you answer the telephone. This includes your personal message on your Call Minder or answer machine.
2.	Do not volunteer information about yourself, number or address to unknown callers
3.	Keep your involvement in unwanted calls to a minimum. If you do not want to talk to the caller, disconnect the call.
4.	Let the telephone ring more times before answering it. This gives you some control over the stress of answering a call you expect to be hostile.

What to do in the event of receiving a malicious or unwanted call

Although unwanted calls can be distressing, the majority are a result a random selection of numbers. If you receive unwanted calls, you should try to stay calm and avoid showing that you are upset. If the calls persist you should:

1.	Log all calls: the date, time and duration of calls. This will help establish a pattern.
2.	Try to think of anyone you may suspect of making the calls.
3.	Try to determine the sex of the caller, approximate age, any accent, and any background noise..
4.	Issue a warning to the offender "I will be laying a complaint with Telecom. Do not call me again." Note date and time of warning in log.
5.	Consider having your telephone number changed with a confidential Listing. If you have, a confidential listing be careful about giving this number out. Remember if you have your number changed but do not have a confidential listing your number will be available to anyone through directory service.
6.	If the calls are of a life-threatening nature and you feel you or another person's safety is at risk, contact the Police immediately.

Remember, when making a complaint to Telecom you will be required to provide an accurate time or times of the call(s) received. An Investigator will discuss your complaint with you and advise how Telecom can assist.

What not to do

1.	Do not reveal shock or anger, in most cases this is what the caller wants
2.	Do not blow a whistle into the mouthpiece. The caller may do the same to you.

Telecom products that may assist

Caller Display
Caller Display is a Telecom Service which allows you to see the number of the telephone you are being called from before you answer the telephone. It will let you decide if, when, and how you answer calls. By potentially enabling you to identify the number of the telephone line from which the call was made it allows you to decide if you wish to accept a call from that number. Caller Display may deter hoax and obscene calls and may also give you the ability to recognise recurring numbers.

Call Minder
Call Minder is a Telecom Service that answers your telephone for you when you are not at home or when you are on the telephone. Call Minder may help Telecom in tracing of calls such as threatening calls as they can provide accurate times. This service may also help by providing an accurate record of what was said on the call. Call Minder can also be used to 'screen' calls. By asking a caller to leave a message you will know who called thus giving you the ability to decide if you wish to talk to that person or not.

Logging Call Details

If you do experience any abusive, obscene, threatening, hoax or annoying telephone calls the following guidelines are some of the things you can note in the complaint to aid Telecom and / or the Police.

Caller's voice

Accent (specify)
Any impediment
Voice (loud,soft)
Speech (fast,slow)
Manner (calm,emotional)
Did you recognise the voice?
Who do you think it was?
Was the caller familiar with the area?
Was it a non-speech call?

Threatening Language

Well spoken?
Incoherent?
Irrational?
Abusive?
Record in writing the actual words spoken

Background Noises

Street noises
House noises
Music
Machinery

Other Information

Sex of caller?
Approximate age?
How long have you been receiving these calls?

Call Log

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The above was taken from a Telecom/Police 'Dealing with malicious or unwanted telephone calls brochure'.

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